An Open Data Quick Dive: Placing Metro Detroit’s Job Sprawl in a National Context!

Over the past several years, a number of writers and organizations have focused on the topic of “job sprawl” in Southeast Michigan (six counties that collectively comprise the Detroit metropolitan statistical area). Analyses have demonstrated that, compared to other regions, jobs in Detroit are spread across a much wider area, and far fewer jobs in Metro Detroit are located in the central city than in other regions across the country. In this post, we’ll add our own voice to the conversation, placing job sprawl in Metro Detroit into three broad contexts – rapid transit, older industrial cities, and rapidly-developing regions. We’ve chosen to look through these three frames of reference because they’re mentioned quite often in conversations surrounding both job sprawl and urban sprawl in general.